commander · Xira Arien
Deathdancer Xira (TD0).
A Jund graveyard reanimator deck from the original 2009 MTGO Commander Theme Decks, led by Xira Arien — fill the graveyard with Dredge and Buried Alive, then return everything to the battlefield through Cauldron Dance, All Hallow's Eve, and Dread Return.
The Commander
Deathdancer Xira is one of the five original 2009 MTGO Commander Theme Decks — digital-only precons that introduced Commander to Magic Online. Xira Arien is a 1/2 flying Insect Wizard for one black, one red, and one green. Pay one of each color and tap her to have any target player draw a card. Her tap ability generates incremental card advantage while she sits as a flying blocker, and she opens Jund — the first three-color combination to receive a Commander precon strategy built around graveyard recursion.
Xira Arien provides consistent card draw that fuels the graveyard strategy. The real power of the deck is its recursion suite: Cauldron Dance reanimates a creature mid-combat, All Hallow's Eve returns every creature from every graveyard two upkeeps later, and Dread Return sacrifices three creatures for free to bring back the biggest threat in the bin.
Key Cards
Golgari Grave-Troll
Enters with a +1/+1 counter for each creature card in your graveyard. Dredge 6 — replace any draw with milling six cards and returning this card to your hand instead. The Grave-Troll fills its own power by filling the graveyard, then Dredge 6 mills six more cards each time you would draw. In a deck built to exploit the graveyard, Dredge 6 converts every draw step into six more cards in the graveyard and a Troll that enters as a 10/10 or larger once the bin is full. One of the most efficient self-mill engines in the format.
Cauldron Dance
An instant for four black and red, cast only during combat. Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield — that creature gets haste and returns to hand at the next end step. You may also put a creature from your hand onto the battlefield with haste, though its controller sacrifices it at the next end step. Reanimates a creature mid-combat with haste as an instant-speed surprise. The returning creature attacks immediately, and getting it back to hand at end step means it's available for Dread Return sacrifice fodder or to replay next turn.
Avatar of Woe
Costs ten mana normally, but if there are ten or more creature cards in all graveyards combined, its cost becomes two black. A 6/5 with fear and a tap ability to destroy any creature — no regeneration. In a Dredge-heavy game where graveyards fill rapidly, Avatar of Woe arrives by turn five for two black mana. Tapping each turn to destroy any creature on the table provides permanent removal on a body that can't be blocked by non-black and non-artifact creatures. Dread Return brings it back if removed.
Dread Return
A sorcery that returns any creature from any graveyard to the battlefield, with an alternate cost of sacrificing three creatures instead of paying four black. Once the graveyard is full of large threats and the board has token fodder to sacrifice, Dread Return brings back Avatar of Woe, Golgari Grave-Troll, or any other bomb for free. The flashback nature of Commander recursion means this spell fires twice — once from hand, once from the graveyard if someone discards it there.
All Hallow's Eve
A two-black sorcery that exiles itself with two scream counters. At the beginning of each upkeep, remove a scream counter. When the last counter is removed, each player returns all creature cards from their graveyard to the battlefield. Two upkeeps after casting, every creature in every graveyard comes back simultaneously — including yours, loaded with the most powerful creatures the Dredge strategy filled it with. In a four-player game where multiple graveyards are full, All Hallow's Eve creates the largest simultaneous board state possible.
How to Play
Get Xira Arien out early and use her tap ability to draw cards and fuel the graveyard plan. Deploy Golgari Grave-Troll to begin Dredge 6 every draw step, filling the graveyard with creatures. Buried Alive puts three specific targets directly into the bin — Avatar of Woe, Genesis for recursion, and Eternal Witness for card recovery. With ten creatures in all graveyards combined, Avatar of Woe arrives for two black and immediately controls the board. Cast All Hallow's Eve and wait two upkeeps — by that point, the graveyard contains the entire creature base and everything returns simultaneously. Cauldron Dance provides instant-speed reanimation during combat for surprise attackers. Win by overwhelming the board with mass graveyard returns while opponents have nothing in their bins to match the density of powerful creatures coming back under your control.